Reading the plot synopsis for The Hangover, you would be forgiven if you uttered a huge "who cares?" yawn. The tale of a bunch of friend's drunken debauchery over a weekend in Las Vegas has been done to death, films like Swingers and Very Bad Things leaping immediatly to mind. So Todd Phillip's film would need to be something a little different to poke it's head above the seething mass of similar films. Luckily, it is. After a slightly hit-and-miss set up, The Hangover decides to concentrate on what happens after the friends wake up from a night of heavy drinking, gambling and mischief. They awake to find one of the gang (the groom-to-be) missing, a baby in the closet, Mike Tyson's tiger in the bathroom and their hotel suite looks like a warzone. From there, they have to try to retrace their steps and piece together the catastrophic events of the previous night, and find their friend. This structure is a lot funnier than simply showing us what happened, as they get further and further into trouble as the pieces of the jigsaw slot into place. The film works due to 3 great lead performances from Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms and Zach Galifianakis (rememeber that name, he could be huge). They have great chemistry and comic timing, and you actually care about them and their predicament. Which doesn't stop us from laughing as their situation becomes more severe and embarassing but, push comes to shove, we wish them well. There are plenty of laugh-out-loud moments, some utterly unbelievable plot twists, some predicatable ones, but it's never less than funny. 90 minutes spent in the company of these 4 men is time well spent. A very funny comedy, that is able to transcend it's cliched and worn subject matter and bring something new to the table. I recommend.